Intrinsic on 12 February 2017
First off, lets get this outta the way... it can do both. But the point of this thread is to settle it once and for all exactly what it is.
Now I think its a portable console, and I will state why in this thread. Feel free to tear my points apart.
So first off whats makes something a home console and what makes it a portable?
- HOME: There is a device that is permanently tethered to a power source and a TV. Without either (if you take away any one of those components), the device is nothing but a paper weight.
- PORTABLE: The device is fully self contained. It does not require a TV nor have to be tethered to a power source to work. It has its own TV, its own power source and requires no additional devices whatsoever to work.
Now if that wasn't clear enough, lets go into som more detail. Lets talk about Design philosophy and performance.
- HOME: Frome the ground up this is designed knowing it will be tethered to a wall. What this means is that making it compact and "power efficient" isn't going to be a core design philosophy. It will have a big chip, it will draw a lot of power, will need a sizeable PCU, and be made with components that typically draw significantly more power than you would find in a portable solution. This also means that it will be more powerful too.
- PORTABLE: Now take everything above, and downsize it to the point that it can function for up to 3/4hrs ruuning off an internal battery. And that its compact enough to fit into most jacket pockets and be carried around everyday/everywhere. This completely changes the design of the hardware and more importantly the components used in making it. On the power front, this will be impossible to compete with the above design.
Lastly, lets talk about the games.
- This ties into the performance or power argument above, but with a twist. There is no doubt that the Switch allows what currently can be considered as console like games. But that has nothing to do with the power of the machine per say but can simply be explained by the fact that the tech out there allows for such a device to exist.
Think of this this way, in 2023/2024; we will have a switch 2 capable of running XB1/PS4 level games as they are today. But what the PS5/XB2 will be then as dedicated home consoles will as they do now; be capable of running games at an IQ that the Switch2 will not be able to match. Thats just how tech goes, you just can't have one without the other.
This honestly is why I think the power or "type of games" argument is a bad one to use to qualify what kinda device anything is. Because when we have th tech that allows even better games to fit into a portable form factor we also will have the tech that allows games in a console form factor that the portable simply cannot run. It may not sound like a lot now, but in 2/3yrs it will become clear when everyone kinda knows that there is a library of games they simply have no access to and not because devs don't wanna make them but that the hardware can't run. That distiction will create a home console and a portable library along with expectaions on what to get from each.
Lastly, some look at the switch and how "powerful" it is like its some sort of surprise. Didn't anyone see the Vita? That thing could run PS1 games with ease and once upon a time the PS1 was a home console. I wouldn't be shocked if even the 3DS could run PSone games.
So thats my reasoning. The switch is a very powerful handheld console, that just happens to llow you plug it to a TV and was designed to that end. And not that its a very powerful home console, that can magically be taken on the go and played.
Discuss!!!
